After winning three ACHA national championships the past four seasons, the Rainy River Community College women’s hockey team has its sights on another title in 2011-12.

The Voyageurs went 20-3-3 last season en route to winning the ACHA Women’s Division 2 national championship.

RRCC’s key losses from last season include Brenley Anderson, who has gone on to play for the University of Manitoba in her junior season, and Jessie Baker, now playing NCAA Division III hockey at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.

Anderson received the Zoe Harris award as the ACHA WD2 player of the year and was named to the All-National Tournament first team, while Baker was on the All-American second team and named the National Tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

However, two Honorable Mention All-Americans return — goalie Katie Stearns and defensive player Jenna Brady, the team captain.

Voyageurs head coach Evan Amdahl has an overall record of 53-12-5 as he enters his fourth season with a 16-player roster that is almost evenly split, 9-7, with players in their respective freshman and sophomore years of eligibility.

Most of the players originate from provinces in Canada, with a half dozen listing Fort Frances or Emo, Ontario, as their hometown. No one on the roster is from Minnesota.

Amdahl said he finds it difficult to recruit players from Minnesota to come to the northern part of the state when there are about 27 different opportunities in Minnesota to play women’s hockey after high school.

He said the 2011-12 RRCC women’s hockey team, on the whole, is young and inexperienced in the ACHA, but has strong team unity and has been getting along great and bonding well so far in practice.

At this point, Amdahl said he is going with his “gut feeling” as to who he will start on the ice. In addition, he noted he is thinking about rotating goalies with Stearns and Randi Stewart, a freshman from Brandon, Manitoba, while freshman Rachael Grotte of Watford City, N.D., is the third goalie available.

Amdahl said the team’s goals including getting back to the national tournament and challenging for a fourth national championship.

While he is concerned about the players staying healthy and being free from injuries this season, Amdahl said he looks forward to seeing the players develop as a team.

“With so many new faces, the real enjoyment is watching how far they come during the season,” he said.

Amdahl said the club teams on RRCC’s schedule to watch out for include the University of Minnesota Duluth, which placed third at Nationals last season, and South Dakota State University, which placed fourth at Nationals.

The Voyageurs are slated to begin the season this weekend at Bronco Arena with three games against the Western Predators from the Manitoba Women’s Junior Hockey League.